Kreatif, Inovatif, Inspiratif: Business Letter

Business Letter is a letter written in formal language, usually used when writing from one business organization to another, or for correspondence between such organizations and their customers, clients and other external parties. The overall style of letter will depend on the relationship between the parties concerned. There are many reasons to write a business letter. It could be to request direct information or action from another party, to order supplies from a supplier, to identify a mistake that was committed, to reply directly to a request, to apologize for a wrong or simply to convey goodwill. Even today, the business letter is still very useful because it produces a permanent record, is confidential, formal and delivers persuasive, well-considered messages.

Layout of Business English Letter

1. Letter Head

The letterhead is located on the most part top of the letter. The contents of the letter head usually contains company’s address, company’s telephone number, company’s logo, corporate e-mail, the company’s webside address, and other information about the company.

2. Date Line

The date line is used to indicate the date the letter was written. However, if your letter is completed over a number of days, use the date it was finished in the date line. When writing to companies within the United States, use the American date format. (The United States-based convention for formatting a date places the month before the day. For example: June 11, 2001. ) Write out the month, day and year two inches from the top of the page. Depending which format you are using for your letter, either left justify the date or tab to the center point and type the date.

British English
Position: on the right, one line below the sender's address (in letters with a ready-printed sender's address, the date can also be put in the top left corner)

American English
Position: top left corner (sometimes centred)

3. Inside Address

The inside address is the recipient's address. It is always best to write to a specific individual at the firm to which you are writing. If you do not have the person's name, do some research by calling the company or speaking with employees from the company. Include a personal title such as Ms., Mrs., Mr., or Dr. Follow a woman's preference in being addressed as Miss, Mrs., or Ms. If you are unsure of a woman's preference in being addressed, use Ms. If there is a possibility that the person to whom you are writing is a Dr. or has some other title, use that title. Usually, people will not mind being addressed by a higher title than they actually possess. To write the address, use the U.S. Post Office Format. For international addresses, type the name of the country in all-capital letters on the last line. The inside address begins one line below the sender's address or one inch below the date. It should be left justified, no matter which format you are using.

Example :
Mr. Eko
Head Manager
HRD
Indosat

4. Reference Line

Some companies, especially big ones, Dixie says, have a system of tracking letters by chronological numbers, employee initials, department codes/numbers or whatever else they choose. This is what they put in the reference line. Or sometimes you can include the reference line in your letter to refer to the information specifically requested by the recipient, such as a job reference or invoice number.
The reference is typed on one or two lines, immediately below the date. This means it is typed to the right of the center in the modified block and indented business letter layouts. Dixie says you can also refer in the reference line to the letter you are replying to, if you wish.

Examples of references:
Re: 180/VG
Re: Job # 389-03
Re: Your letter dated 11/15/2006 (this can also be used as a subject line, see Dixie’s comment under the subject line below)

5. Salutation

Use the same name as the inside address, including the personal title. If you know the person and typically address them by their first name, it is acceptable to use only the first name in the salutation (for example: Dear Lucy:). In all other cases, however, use the personal title and last/family name followed by a colon. Leave one line blank after the salutation.
If you don't know a reader's gender, use a nonsexist salutation, such as their job title followed by the receiver's name. It is also acceptable to use the full name in a salutation if you cannot determine gender.

example:
you might write Dear Chris Harmon: if you were unsure of Chris's gender.

6. Subject line